Liturgical images and movements that speak to experience

Acts of Thanksgiving

In the Liturgy of the Eucharist the Church’s thanksgiving is voiced in the priest’s Eucharistic Prayer and the various acclamations of the assembly. In the absence of a priest who would normally preside over the people’s prayer, we are still obliged to give God our communal thanks and praise. While hymns and canticles of praise may be used as Acts of Thanksgiving, official prayers for use in Sunday Celebrations in the Absence of a Priest may be found in:

Sunday Celebrations in the Absence of a Priest, the Committee on the Liturgy of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (Washington DC: United States Catholic Conference, 1993).

Sunday Celebration of the Word and Hours, ed. by the National Liturgy Office of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (Ottawa, Ont.: CCCB Publications Service, 1995).

NOTE: As all of these resources make reference to receiving the Blessed Sacrament in the context of a Communion Service, certain sections of the prayers may need to be adapted for a Liturgy of the Word Without Communion.

The following Acts of Thanksgiving were composed for Sunday worship at Dignity-Integrity/Rochester and serve as the people’s offering to God. They draw upon numerous images from our spiritual heritage which resonate in particular ways with our lived experience of the God who, indeed, is worthy of our thanks and praise.

1. Justice Revealed in Christ 2. The Power of Love 3. Canticle of Judith 4. Canticle of Restoration 5. The Light of the World6. Known In Our Midst7. Whole and Holy8. The Spirit’s Gifts9. Blessed to be the Blessing10. Out of Darkness

We bless you, just and sovereign God,for you have made Christ the head of the body, the church;he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,so that he might have first place in everything.

For in him all the fullness of your Godhead was pleased to dwell,and through him you were pleased to reconcile all things to yourself.making peace through the blood of his cross.

We give you glory and honor, O God of our salvation,for in his human bodyChrist has now reconciled us to you through death,in order to present us before you,holy and blameless and irreproachable,provided we stand secure and steadfast in the faith[and resolute in the service of justice],without shifting from the hope promised bythe gospel that we have heard.

LEADER: Bless the LORD, O my soul. . .ALL: And all that is within me, bless God’s holy name.

Good and gracious God, who can express the binding power of your love? Who can find words for the splendor of its beauty? Beyond all description are the heights to which it lifts us.

Love unites us to you; “it cancels innumerable sins,” has no limits to its endurance, bears everything patiently. Love is neither servile nor arrogant. It does not provoke schisms or form cliques, but always acts in harmony with others. By it, all your chosen ones have been sanctified; without it, it is impossible to please you.

Out of love you sent your belovéd Word made flesh, who out of love took us to himself; because he loved us and it was your will, our Lord Jesus Christ gave his life’s blood for us­–he gave his body for our body, his soul for our soul.

LEADER: Bless the LORD, O my soul. . .ALL: And all that is within me, bless God’s holy name.

We acknowledge what a great and wonderful thing love is, and how inexpressible its perfection.Who is worthy to possess it unless you, loving God, make them so?

To you, therefore, we must turn, begging of your mercythat there may be found in usa love free from human partiality and beyond reproach.

Every generation from Adam and Eve’s time to ours has passed away;but those, who by your grace were made perfect in love,have a dwelling now among the saints,and when at last the reign of Christ appears,they will be revealed.

Through our sacred texts you have told usto “take shelter in [the desert of] our rooms for a little while,until your wrath subsides.Then will you remember the good days,and will raise us from our graves.”

LEADER: Bless the LORD, O my soul. . .ALL: And all that is within me, bless God’s holy name.

Though the sweet odor of every sacrifice is a trifle,and the fat of all holocausts but little in your sight,it is our awe of you, great and glorious God,that makes us forever great,and it is only through your inspiration that we can offer you thanks and praise, Source of all Being, Eternal Word, and Holy Spirit,one God, forever and ever.

ALL: Amen.

Our participation in God’s glorious reignbegins with the prayer that Jesus taught us:

No more shall the sun be our light by day,nor the brightness of the moon illumine our night;but you shall be unto us an everlasting light––you, O God, our splendor.

You who said, “Let there be light,” have shone in our heartsto bring to light the knowledge of your gloryrevealed in the face of your Son.

If we walk in the light, as He is in the light,we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of the Lamb cleanses us from all sin.

LEADER: The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear?ALL: The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

The treasure burns in earthen lampsthat the power revealed may testify of your gloryand not be a cause for foolish pride.

Shine through us to reveal your power in the midst of our powerlessness.

Shine through us until that blesséd day when the whole of creation will be drawn into your radiant presence and share in the glory that is yours, Source of all Being, Eternal Word and Holy Spirit,as it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever.

In our humanness we need embodied signs.Like two lovers who can’t express the depth of their love without touch;so we yearn to receive your Son’s most precious body and blood,that we might become one with you in a physical, tangible way.

Yet, so boundless and merciful is your love for usthat you give us a world of ways to feel your presence in our midst.

Satisfy the longing of our hearts as we travel life’s road,and bring us again to the joy of your intimate embrace,both now and at that heavenly feastat which all shall be welcomedand all shall be truly one with you,,Source of all Being, Eternal Word and Holy Spirit,one God forever and ever.

ALL: Amen.

God is near and aware of our needs; let us then pray as Jesus taught us:

We give you thanks, O God, for since the dawn of creation you have sent your Spirit,showering her gifts upon the full spectrum of humanity, uniting them with understanding, to hear a message of justice and peace.

Through her inspiration the young saw visions, the old dreamed dreams, and your truth was revealed.

You challenged Peter with a vision: a sheet lowered from the heavens, filled with animals that Jewish Law had labeled profane. Your voice told him, “kill and eat,” but Peter objected: “No LORD, far be it from me to eat anything that is unclean!”

Your response to him touches deep into our souls: “Who are you to call anything that I have made, ‘unclean?’”

LEADER: Bless the LORD, O my soul. . .ALL: And all that is within me, bless God’s holy name.

You, O God, have created us whole and holy,and continue to mold us into a peopleempowered to offer you love and thanks and service and praise.

Sanctify us completely,and preserve the whole of our being––spirit, soul, and body––blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,One God, forever and ever.

Good and gracious God, in the beginning your Spirit stirred within the formless voidand a world of relationships and possibilities came into being.

This same Spirit stirred within your creatureswhen the breath of your love filled our lungs and animated our souls.

From those humble beginnings your empowerment has persisted.Showering your grace upon us you sustain our life and, through your gifts, enable our fellowship with you––

With Wisdom you grace us,allowing us to perceive your will resonating within our minds and hearts.

With Understanding you bless us,showing us a glimpse of your truth as it unfolds around us.

With Right Judgment you ready us, helping us to apply your priorities to the circumstances of our every-day lives.

With Fortitude you empower us,giving us the courage to challenge all that lies in opposition to your love,and the strength to endure the persecution that comesto any who dare to challenge ignorance, hatred, or fear.

LEADER: Bless the LORD, O my soul. . .ALL: And all that is within me, bless God’s holy name.

To your Son all these gifts belong in their fullness,for while he walked this earth your Spirit rested upon him,anointing him with the spirit of wisdom and understanding,the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.And his delight was the fear of the LORD.

With awe and reverence he beheld your reflection in us, to the point where his only desire was to be an instrument of your mercy and love.

Through his life, death, resurrection and ascension into gloryhe released his Spirit into the world with a specific mission:to enable those who believe in him to continue in the works of justice and love––that we, too, might fulfill the desire of your heart.

Fill us afresh with that same Spirit,that our fellowship may be more inclusive, our ministry more effective, our love more transforming, and our desires more in tune with your will.

This is the gift you have given us through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord,who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

ALL: Amen

Jesus gave us words that would direct our hearts to God andhis Spirit to unite our voices into a harmonious song of praise. Let us gather now, empowered to pray:

We come before you, Lord God Almighty,to offer you the humble service of our thanks and praise.As your holy, priestly people we are indeed blessed,anointed by your grace overflowing, which spills out as a healing balm over our wounded world.

Indeed, every creature under heaven, and the earth itself,is blessed by the compassion and care you channel through our ministry of service.By your grace we are empowered to advocate and intercede;sent forth to love in word and deed—Blessed to be the blessing.

We take up your charge both night and day:bringing back those sheep who've lost their way,tending to the sick and sore' oppressed,helping them to see that they are blessed—Blessed to be the blessing.

LEADER: Bless the LORD, O my soul. . .ALL: And all that is within me, bless God’s holy name.

To you, O Lord, we lift up a sacrifice of praise,and offerings of service raise,joined to the selfless gift of your Sonwho did all that love commanded—even voicing his challenge to a corrupt generationknowing that to do so would mean his death.

You honored his sacrifice,raised him from the grave,raised him on high to be the perfect channel of your grace,and for him raised up a nation of prieststo continue his mission in the world.

LEADER: Bless the LORD, O my soul. . .ALL: And all that is within me, bless God’s holy name.

Nourish us with the bread of sacrifice—his word and example raised up for us,his body offered up for us,his spirit and his compassion living on in and through this body of believers, your holy church—that we may continue to be blessed to be the blessing.

All to your honor and glory, O Lord, both now and forever.

ALL: Amen.

That our service may fulfill our Master's will,we pray in the words that Jesus taught us:

The spirit of the Lord rests upon us, come into our midst to judge with righteousness,come into our midst to speak on behalf of the poor, come into our midst to stand with the meek of the earth.

In the dark shadows of the nightwe crouched with fear, awaiting the safety of the sun-lit day.

Yet, with God in our midst all is made well:the wolf dwells with the lamb, and the leopard beds down with the kid; the calf and the young lion and the fatling together.Even the poisons we inject into our relationshipsand acts of violence to which we resort for preservation’s sake—on them we no longer need rely.

For we have been led by a little Childand have come to know that all have a share in his promise,and on God’s holy mountain all shall find a place of welcome.

LEADER: The night is gone, the day is near. . .ALL: The LORD, our God, is in our midst.

O Lord, we praise you, for you are our Comforter, delivering us from all anxiety.We trust, and are no longer afraid,for you are our strength and our songand have become our salvation.

O Lord, we praise you, and declare your saving deeds among the people, exalting your holy name.Singing of our trust, our voices can be heardeven from the deepest recesses of the night.Even when our enemies are encamped about us,we sing, unafraid; for great is the Holy One of Israel who is here in our midst.

LEADER: The night is gone, the day is near. . .ALL: The LORD, our God, is in our midst.

In our midst you raised up an heir to David’s throne,the Child of Humanity who stands as a rallying point for all people;all seek him out, for the rest he offers is glorious.

In his reign, all those who were cast to the margins will returnon a highway made smooth, a path unencumbered,as broad as our ancestors’ path through the sea.As they crossed over into your promise,so we shall enter the land of justice,a place of freedom and belonging.

For this we wait longingly,for this we work earnestly,and all the while filled with the peace and joy that you alone can give,through the same Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord,who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. ALL: Amen.

In the light of this hope, let us pray in the words that Jesus taught us: